A known electrical connector generally includes a housing and a terminal disposed in the housing. A cable is inserted into the housing and electrically connected to the terminal. If the cable is pulled from the housing, the terminal may be loosened from the housing. Accordingly, it is necessary to firmly secure the terminal in the housing.
In order to firmly secure the terminal in the housing, a known lock has been developed. The known lock is snapped to the housing and press against an end of the terminal to prevent the terminal from being disengaged from the housing.
The cable is inserted into the housing through a cable passage formed in the lock device, however, the cables for the electrical connector may have different diameters. Accordingly, the cable passage of the known lock must be adapted to various cables with different diameters. Furthermore, the cable passage of the known lock has a constant diameter, and the constant diameter must be adapted for the cable having a largest diameter among the various cables.
When a cable having a smaller diameter is used to pass through the cable passage of the known lock device, there is a larger gap between the cable passage having the constant diameter and the cable having the smaller diameter. Accordingly, when the cable having the smaller diameter is pulled outward, the known lock may easily rotate or offset with respect to an axis of the cable passage and generate a larger moment of force on the known lock device. When the pulling force exerted on the known lock using the cable reaches a certain value, a locking piece of the lock snapped to the housing may be broken down. Once the known lock is damaged, the cable and the terminal may be loosened from the housing of the electrical connector when pulled, and the electrical connector may fail.